Lucille Pfiffer Mystery Series Box Set

by Tanya R. Taylor

  “My tummy’s growling; that’s how. I can’t do a single thing for the poor guy. No need for me to collapse from starvation and join him. We haven’t known each other that long.”

  Merlene went, just as she was dressed, down to the pool with Theodore and I got up to take my shower. The whole time I thought about Ralph and how pleasant a guy he really seemed to be. I’m sure he never imagined taking the day off for “me time” would be the last he’d see of that company he’d built and the people who worked for him; that he’d join Pearl on the other side. I wondered what he went through all alone as he was dying in that pool and possibly couldn’t call out for help. Anyway, I soon realized my sorrow for the stranger wasn’t going to bring him back. He was gone. There was nothing any of us could do.

  That day was set to be our last at Hogan Key. The trip was only a day and a half long with the overnight stay at the resort. Despite the tragic event, we were still able to leave, as scheduled, at two o’clock that afternoon. The authorities were in possession of our names, addresses and telephone contacts should they need to conduct any further investigation surrounding Ralph Edwards’ death.

  4

  _________________

  Merlene and I barely said a word to each other during the journey back to the other side of Chadsworth. She must’ve been engrossed in thought just as I was. Theodore and his new lady sat at the back of the boat. Everyone was understandably quiet, including the naturally loud, strapping guy, Jake. He was sitting at a round table with two guys, playing cards; the quiet one sat near the right side of the boat, looking out at the ocean. We’d seen very little of him after we got to Hogan Key, but he did dine alone in the restaurant yesterday evening and seemed to be fiddling with his cell phone the entire time.

  Felicia, the tour guide sat up front with another lady and they were chatting quite a bit. I suspected it was all about the drowning. As we were leaving, she expressed her dismay for how the excursion turned out and wished us all the best. I was impressed by her professionalism and told her she’d done a fantastic job and would likely succeed in whatever she decided to do in life. I noticed the sparkle in her eye when I said that.

  I desperately missed my dog Vanilla and couldn’t wait to get back and hold her in my arms. I imagined she was wondering where I’d gone off to yesterday, leaving her alone with Anthony who would’ve been picking up after her every time she got messy. I could count on Anthony to keep the place tidy; he was no Theodore for sure. It was amazing for me to observe how two men, who were apparently polar opposites, could get along so well as tenants in the same house. I often called them my “adoptive boys”, but I never let my affection for them get in the way of collecting my rent every month. Nope. There was no taking advantage of Lucille Velma Abigail Pfiffer.

  We drove back in Theodore’s car. He dropped Merlene off at home, we waved hello to David who was outside washing his car, then headed for Harriet’s Cove. I could sense Nilla’s excitement; I knew she realized we’d pull up in front of that gate soon and open that front door. I couldn’t imagine who was more excited — me or her.

  Since it was Sunday, Anthony was off from work and the front door was wide open when we got home. After dropping Merlene off, Theodore had called to let him know we were on our way.

  As we walked the pathway to the door, Anthony appeared in the doorway, holding Nilla. On seeing us, she became wildly excited, wagging her furry tail faster than I’d ever seen it go and she almost hopped out of Anthony’s arms.

  “Nilla!” I cried, hurrying toward her.

  Anthony set her down and she took off to greet me. I was almost at the door when I scooped her up and hugged her, kissing and caressing her fur. She repeatedly licked my face and at one point, my lips. I hated when that happened since there was no telling what Nilla had been experimenting with in terms of bugs. At that moment though, it didn’t matter that much because I was so happy to see her again.

  “How’s my snookums?” I gazed into her eyes, as she attempted to lick me some more.

  “Your snookums is fine.” Anthony smiled.

  Theodore took Nilla and she licked his face as well, still wagging that tail. Guess she missed those tasty toes of his and wouldn’t imagine for a moment he’d been sharing his affection with a strange woman on that yacht.

  “Hey, bro!” Theodore said. The guys greeted each other with a fist bump.

  Anthony asked about the trip. We went inside and gave him the rundown, and he couldn’t believe his ears.

  “Yup. Miss Pfiffer here had that guy hot on her heels before he just conked out,” Theodore said.

  Anthony gave me a suspicious stare. “I thought you told me there was no room in your life for a new husband?”

  I sucked my teeth. “We only had a decent conversation, which is a lot less than what Theodore was doing with that woman he was French-kissing before we parted ways.”

  Theodore had the most wicked laugh. “She’s exaggerating, bro.”

  “I’m not!”

  “How do you know this, Lucille?” Anthony asked.

  As much as I loved those boys, I wasn’t yet ready to tell them I could see without use of my eyes. I wasn’t sure I could trust them with guarding my secret. Merlene and her son, David were the only ones who knew and I was content in keeping it that way, for now.

  “Merlene said so,” I told Anthony. It was a white lie. Didn’t think it warranted a trip to hell if I were to suddenly kick the bucket like Ralph did. On the other hand, you never know.

  “Why didn’t you introduce us to your friend?” I asked Theodore.

  “It’s not the way you and Merlene think it is,” he said.

  “Really? You spent the entire night in her room.” Then a thought hit me. “Oh, I get it. It was one of those ‘no strings attached’ type of get-togethers.”

  “You got it,” he replied. “Her name’s Kathy. Merlene might remember the girl Kathy came with. That’s who I gave up my room for since they were both staying together.”

  “Do you think you’ll see her again?” Anthony asked.

  “Doubt it. She has a boyfriend. I’m not into any love triangles. What we had was good while it lasted.”

  “Typical!” I exclaimed. It was time for me to get up.

  “Where are you going?” Anthony said.

  “To my room. I can use a nap; it’s been a long day. Let’s go, Nilla!” She’d been playing with her rubber fish the entire time.

  I passed Sir Clement on my way to the bedroom; he was standing in the hallway. It was the first time I’d seen him in months — actually since Sabrina’s murder had been solved and I wondered what he wanted now. It’s not like he ever spoke to me, so there wasn’t any point asking him. His presence bothered me this time. I didn’t know if it was a sign of something looming.

  I just didn’t like this feeling I had.

  5

  _________________

  It was the day after we returned from our excursion that I woke up in a silent panic. I realized for the first time in months, I could not see a thing; my inner vision had again abandoned me. I didn’t know what to do; what to think. I felt I’d been teased with sight after becoming blind and abruptly deprived, as if it was a cruel joke.

  I reached for the telephone and dialed Merlene’s number. She picked up on the third ring.

  “Yes. What is it?” she asked. I knew she had caller ID, so doubt she would’ve answered just anybody’s phone call that way.

  “Merlene, I can’t see anything!” I spoke softly, so as not to alert the boys.

  She cleared her throat. “What do you mean, Lucille?”

  “Exactly what I said! I woke up and literally can’t see a thing. It’s gone. It’s left me again after hanging around for so long.”

  “Don’t panic. I’m sure it’ll come right back.”

  “You can’t be sure of that, Merlene!”

  “Lucille, in life we’re not sure of anything, but we hope for the best, don’t we? Look, there has to be a logical
explanation for this. There has to be a reason, I’m telling ya. Did anything odd happen as of late that might’ve set you back? Bet it was Ralph’s death that instigated it.”

  My thoughts had drifted off momentarily.

  “Are you there?” she asked.

  “Yes. I know…at least I think I know what or rather...who...might have something to do with this,” I replied.

  “Okay. Well, shoot!”

  I sighed. “It’s Sir Clement. I saw him yesterday after Theodore and I got back. He looked strange.”

  “Strange how?”

  “I’m not sure. I didn’t get a good feeling when I saw him.”

  “Lucille...”

  The tone of her voice now worried me. “What?”

  “What if he wants something from you?”

  “What’re you talking about, Merlene?”

  “Didn’t you say a while back that you were going to try and find out what really happened to him?”

  “So? I didn’t tell him that!” I retorted.

  “Maybe not, but he might’ve heard you; maybe that’s what he wants. And now he feels he’s being ignored, especially since you’ve had no interruptions in your inner vision for a long time.”

  I had to take that in. It sort of sounded like Merlene might have something there. I’ve always wondered why Sir Clement and the others appeared to me occasionally and I did sort of connect the reason for my second chance of seeing, though in a different way, to the time they showed up when my husband Donnie was in desperate need of medical attention. Could it be that after getting to the bottom of Sabrina’s death, my inner vision was kept intact so that I could get busy checking into the events surrounding Sir Clement’s unsolved murder? Did he really feel ignored and has now snatched away what I cherished in order to teach this tough cookie a lesson?

  “I think you’re right,” I told Merlene. I felt both foolish and guilty for thinking I had some control lately of this seemingly on and off gift. And for letting the poor fellow down when he’d been nothing but nice to me, despite the obvious fact that he wasn’t much of a conversationalist.

  “So what are you going to do?” Merlene asked.

  “I’m going down to the local Archives and will try to get a hold of as much information as I possibly can. That’s where you come in.”

  “Uh huh? So, in other words, since you can’t see a darn thing, you expect me to do everything. Is that it?”

  “Pretty much.”

  She said she’d come for me around 11:00 after getting a few things done around the house.

  A few minutes later, Nilla started barking at me. I just knew she was standing on hind legs with her front paws leaning against my mattress. She sometimes did that if she thought I was lying down too long after the sun came up. Furthermore, she knew we had to go for our morning walk around the neighborhood which seemed to be the very best part of her day. I wished I could see her and felt myself getting a bit emotional about it though I managed to restrain those tears I never gave permission to show up. I reached down to where I sensed she was and just as I thought, she was standing there with her front paws gripping the mattress. I picked her up, kissed and cuddled her, and felt those wet licks against my cheek and chin.

  “We need to brush those teeth of yours!” I said. “Your morning breath is worse than mine.” I laughed at my own joke. Besides, this old lady had been through a lot in life and one slight derailment like suddenly not being able to see again was not going to get me down. I had to stay strong not just for myself, but for Nilla.

  “Breakfast’s ready!” Anthony hollered from the first floor.

  I liked how he’d taken it upon himself to be the official breakfast cook almost every morning. Ever since we had the anniversary party, he’d been so much more outgoing — at least with Theodore and me.

  Nilla was now eager to get the hell out of my lap. She knew what Anthony’s yell meant and nothing and no one, including me, was getting in the way of her food. I set her down on the floor, then heard her running down the staircase.

  Theodore hailed as he was passing my room. Most mornings he didn’t get to eat breakfast at home since he often had to leave for work much earlier than Anthony did.

  After freshening up, I grabbed my cane and headed downstairs to the dining room. The radio was on and Tammy Falcone was covering the eight o’clock news. Ralph Edwards’ death was the top story since yesterday afternoon. I knew the media would go on and on about the pharmaceutical mogul’s demise since journalists in Chadsworth barely had anything worthwhile to report, as of late. It seemed like they always sought out bad news, but I wondered what was so wrong about going out there in the community; finding people doing sensible things and reporting such. Why does it always have to be something negative for people to focus on? I once told Barbara-Jean Ellings that very thing. She was the most celebrated journalist in Chadsworth — I assumed the other journalists strove to be like her. When confronted with my opinion about news reporting, she nonchalantly told me that negativity sells and that very few people care to hear about anything positive or “good” on the news. Well, I don’t know how that air-head got so “celebrated”. It was probably the silliest thing I’d ever heard.

  If Ralph was penniless, his death would’ve meant very little to anyone. But the focus was his net worth; his contributions to society—which seemed to be very little—and who stood to inherit his fortune. If only I would’ve met the guy a couple of years earlier, I might’ve been named his widow and they’d be talking about what it was I’d inherited.

  “Seems strange they’re talking about the same guy we met the other day, isn’t it?” Theodore said at the table.

  “Yes.” I took a bite of my toast. Frankly, I didn’t feel inclined to make Ralph’s passing a topic at breakfast, so I said nothing more about it.

  “You don’t look so well, Miss Pfiffer,” Theodore said. “Are you all right?”

  I hated that! I put a lot of effort into hiding what was really bothering me. “I’m fine. What makes you ask?” Hoped I managed to look puzzled.

  “Just thought you looked a little down.”

  “A little down? Me?” I grimaced. “I feel as light as a feather; can’t wait to venture outdoors to stretch these legs of mine and soak up that sunshine.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Lucille,” Anthony said, “but the weather’s a bit overcast this morning. I think you’d better postpone your walk. A squall of rain might come down on you and Nilla while you’re out.”

  “Won’t want that,” I said. “Thanks. We’ll just find something to do indoors until Merlene comes to pick me up.”

  “Where are you guys going?” Theodore asked.

  “To the Archives. I’ve got some research to do.”

  “Research?” He looked surprised.

  “Uh huh.”

  “On what?”

  I had to think of something that seemed to make sense to their inquiring minds. “Actually, it’s Merlene who has to do the research — not sure what about. I’m just tagging along.”

  I’m don’t know if they believed me, but they dropped the subject anyway. I had never given them any reason to doubt what I ever told them.

  After the boys left for work, I made my bed, then got ready just in case Merlene decided to show up early. As I was about to relax in the living room, the doorbell rang.

  “Who is it?” I yelled from the landing. Nilla’s pitter-patter of paws had already made their way to the door.

  “Lucille! It’s me — Carla.”

  “Just the person I want to see,” I murmured. The woman had stayed away since the night of my and Donnie’s anniversary party — the same night young Sabrina fell off the balcony to her death. Carla knew why she’d stayed away for so long. She knew she’d portrayed Merlene’s son David in a negative light that night not knowing if the boy was guilty of anything. I think if Merlene ever caught her here she’d have more than just a few words to say to her, especially since she’d run over anyone for the sake of he
r son.

  “I’m coming!” I replied, carefully making my way down the stairway as I heard Nilla scratching at the front door.

  Upon opening the door, I was glad for the first time that I actually couldn’t see the person standing on the other side. Her massive size had nothing to do with that as she was truly a pretty woman; it was seeing straight through that exterior to that conniving personality of hers. Sure, I appreciated the lifts she’d given Nilla and me from time to time, but to do what she did to David was almost unforgiveable, as far as I was concerned. If it were up to her, the boy would’ve gotten the electric chair for a crime he didn’t commit.

  “Carla, how nice of you to come by!” I almost bit my tongue. I’d promised myself to chew her out whenever I saw her, but for some reason that day, I felt compelled to be more civil.

  “Hey, Lucille. I just had to come by to see how you were doing. I haven’t seen you in ages and we live in the same neighborhood!” She giggled nervously.

  “I haven’t moved, obviously, and the route for our morning walk hasn’t changed. Right, Nilla?” I said, feeling around for her. She was near my right foot and obviously trying her hardest to get Carla’s attention.

  “Nilla! It’s so good to see you again!” I imagined she patted her or something, which was what she usually did when she saw her. I don’t think she ever picked her up before.

  “Have you changed your route going in and out of the subdivision in recent months?” I asked. “Oh, pardon my manners! Do come in.”

  I eased the door shut after I was certain she’d entered. “Please have a seat; it’s been such a long time since we chatted.”

  We sat in the living room together and I could feel Carla’s unease even as we went on about trivial matters. Then she said something to me which explained the reason for her visit and for her absence.

  “Lucille, I want to say how sorry I am for implicating Merlene’s son that night the way I did. I didn’t intend for it to come across that way to the police.”